Union
by Ddragon Necrophades
Summary: Sorry about the false start. Half a year after the D-Reaper's defeat, Takato has disappeared. Ruki finds herself dragged into a new battle. Lee has nothing to do with any of this. Language, violence, gore, situations. R&R, please.
1. Chapter 1

_Despot Dragon Presents_

**DIGIMON**

**Union**

-

Disclaimer: My apologies. It came to my attention that I'd screwed up my plot in the last version, so I started from scratch. With luck, it won't happen again. As you know, I don't own Digimon or much of anything shown here, except for my original characters and the plot. And, again, I'm not taking the movies associated with the Tamers season into account, so try not to bug me about that.

That being said, I won't be repeating any of this. In future chapters, I'll use this space to answer reviews, if I feel the need. Crap, I talk too much… on with the story, dammit…

-

-

The battle with the D-Reaper had been long and hard on both worlds. In the end, the Digimon were forced to return to their own world, as a side-effect of the program that had defeated the vile data. It had been left unsaid that neither side was meant to trespass upon the other again.

Tell that to whoever left the gate open.

Humans were not to enter again into the realm of Digimon, or vice-versa, but Takato Matsuda had found a gate to the Digital World nonetheless. And, recalling the promise he had made to his friend, his partner, months earlier, he chose to enter it.

The Digital World was in enough turmoil without that.

Now, with the scars left by the D-Reaper still fresh, a new story begins…

-

_Chapter One_

"_I request that you do not look at the mirror."_

-

"You'd think if he was going to get lost for a month," Hirokazu mused, "he'd at least tell us where he was going beforehand, right?"

Ruki groaned, rubbing her temples. It'd been nearly a month since Takato had disappeared; in the absence of their usual target, Kenta and Hirokazu had latched onto her. So she'd had more than her usual share of headaches since the manhunt got started. Definitely _not_ fun.

She wondered if her old partner was getting the same kind of grief, wherever she was.

"Look, you two," she said, as they passed under a bridge. "I'm not in the mood right now. Why don't you go bug Lee?" She cast an irate glance over her shoulder. When they didn't budge, she added, "He called earlier, told me he had that new video… game?" She blinked in confusion… they'd had taken off running at the word "new."

Short attention spans really did little to help define their version of friendship.

Ruki heaved a sigh of relief, stopping to lean against one of the supports. At least she'd have a few moments' respite before they'd be back, something she'd found only rarely since Takato's disappearance. After a few moments, she fished out her earbuds, switched on the mp3 player they were attached to. Worrying about it wouldn't help Takato overmuch, she decided, and closed her eyes…

_She was running, had been running for some time. And for a good reason; she didn't dare look back, but she knew that something or someone was chasing her. But she was too disciplined to panic; whatever it was, it would give up eventually._

_The trees parted finally, leaving her to skid to a halt, just before she would have run off the cliff. A dead end. She turned to face her pursuer, already fighting to regain her breath. As a matter of course, she glanced down at the little rabbit-like creature in her arms, thinking the running must have done little to help with his injuries…_

"Terriermon!" Ruki shouted, stunned. She stood bolt upright, eyes wide. After a moment, she calmed down enough to look around. No trees. No cliff. No Terriermon. She was still in Shinjuku. She turned off the music, rubbing her head again. "What _was_ that…?"

She sighed, attempting to shrug it off. Maybe she just hadn't gotten enough sleep last night. Either that or Kenta and Hirokazu really were driving her crazy. Either way, it wasn't something she should worry about. She flicked the switch on her mp3 player again, started walking back home. If it _was_ lack of sleep, maybe she should catch a nap before the two idiots caught her up again…

"_No time to think," she determined, glancing over her shoulder at the ravine that was now behind her. Clutching the injured Terriermon rather tightly, she dropped back over the edge, landing easily on a narrow ledge below. Without thinking, she jumped from there as well, down to the next one, and one below that. Finally, her paws touched stone ground, and she dared to look up._

_She saw the silhouette of her pursuer standing on the edge of the cliff. As she watched, it turned and departed the other way._

"_Whatever he is," she mused, "he's not as skilled as I am, nor is he able to fly. Good to know." Her attention turned back to Terriermon, and she managed a grim smile. "We should be safe for awhile. He'll have to find a different way down here. Can you hold on a bit longer?"_

"_Momentai," the smaller Digimon managed._

"_I'll take that as a yes," she replied, and took off running again, heading for a nearby village…_

"Huh?" Ruki slowed to a stop. She'd started running after awhile, with no reason she could think of. Puzzled, she stopped her mp3 player as well, tugging the buds out of her ears. This was going a bit too far.

Then she looked around, taking stock of her surroundings, and was fairly shocked. She gaped at a familiar structure, dumbfounded. "This is… where we left…"

"_Here," she said, holding a small wooden bowl to Terriermon's lips. "Drink this. We'll rest here for now." As she spoke, she tipped it toward him, giving him a splash of the cool water therein. Once he'd finished, she helped him lay back against a stone and walked away some distance, her tail sagging in her fatigue._

"_Three days," Terriermon said. "That's tough even for you, eh, Renamon?" He squirmed a little, wrapping himself in his long ears. "Look, don't worry about me. You're the better fighter, you should focus on finding a way back to tell Rika and the others…"_

"_And leave my friends to… whatever that was?" she scoffed. "No, thank you. I would rather see you away from that thing, first. If I can get you to Guardromon-"_

"_Guardromon's gone already."_

"_What?" The look on her face was totally incredulous._

"_He's gone," Terriermon insisted. "That thing got him first. I was coming to warn you when I was attacked…"_

_She bit her lip thoughtfully, her tail beginning to sweep angrily. Finally, she turned to face the smaller Digimon, her look one of grim determination. "Then we will have to-"_

"Found you."

_She froze, eyes wide, as she heard the now-familiar growl of their pursuer. Terriermon, too, froze in place, transfixed by the horror looming behind his companion. Then, one of the creature's claws slammed into her side, flinging her into the wall, where she crumpled like a broken doll. Terriermon gave a shriek and flung himself forward to defend her, only to be caught by the very same claw._

"_Y-you…!?" Renamon opened her eyes, struggled to see for herself what had surprised Terriermon so. She grimaced, blood dribbling from her mouth, to see a strangely familiar face standing on the shoulder of a massive dinosaur Digimon, whose orange hide darkened in the falling sunlight. One three-clawed hand held Terriermon in its grip, before a face that was covered in a grey mask._

_She would have called it a Greymon, but for the leather straps that covered its eyes, effectively blinding it. So that's it… it followed them by scent, and by the command of the one on its shoulder. Groaning, she struggled to her feet, intent on fighting to her death before letting it take Terriermon._

Ruki's eyes snapped open again. "Th-that was… Renamon?" she breathed, shocked. She had drawn closer to the structure during that vision, almost as if she were destined to be within as it completed. She still had no idea why she was having these visions, or what was going on, but it seemed to be something big.

She only saw a little of the face from Renamon's perspective, but she, too, felt he was someone familiar. Forcing herself to calm down, she closed her eyes again, hoping to see what would play out…

"_So… you can still stand," he mused, and hopped down from the strange Greymon's shoulder. "Did you honestly think I would allow anyone with the power to challenge her to get away?" He smiled, but Renamon could see no mirth in it… it failed to reach his eyes, which remained hollow as the grave._

"_Did you… think I would… want to…?" Renamon replied, gradually managing to straighten up into a proper stance, wiping the blood from her mouth. "I will not allow… this slaughter to continue. Your killing spree ends here… nngh!" She doubled over, as his fist slammed into her stomach, and spat up a foul mix of blood and vomit._

"_X-Greymon," he said dispassionately, as he allowed her to crumple back to the ground. "Crush the little one, and then make sure this one's death is as painful as possible…" That said, he walked off past his companion, disappearing into the mist._

_Renamon struggled to get back up the entire time, using Terriermon's agonized screams as her motivation. Finally, as she got back to her knees, she heard him give one final shriek of pain as the deed was done, and he burst into data. She cursed herself roundly for her failure, preparing for her own ignoble death even as Terriermon's data surrounded her._

"_Momentai," she heard Terriermon laugh, and looked up to see X-Greymon's foot raised above her. Then, just as she was sure it came down upon her, crushing her into nothing, she was gone…_

Ruki stood within the very same structure that had been Guilmon's home so many months ago, wondering why she had been brought here. She clenched her teeth bitterly as she stared at the hole into which they'd descended on that fateful trip to the Digital World, hoping beyond hope that what she'd been shown was a fever dream. Then she blinked, and rubbed her eyes vigorously to make sure what she was seeing was real.

Renamon stood before her, a hazy, ghostly image of the fox who had been her partner. Apparently, she was just as surprised as Ruki was, though the expression was fleeting.

"Renamon?" Ruki asked, hesitantly. She moved to touch her, but Renamon held up a paw. "What…?"

"_I have no time for that,"_ Renamon replied, her voice thin. _"I think I know the reason for this… are you feeling up to saving the world again, Ruki?"_ She held out her paw, as if to take Ruki's hand.

"Again?" Ruki replied wryly. "If it means we can catch up, I'm game." That said, she took the proffered paw, and immediately screamed as an electric shock tore through her. Renamon disappeared, and Ruki fainted, dropping first to her knees and then onto her side.

Her head cracked on the stone floor, but she had been unconscious long before that.

-

Ruki woke to voices nearby. She didn't recognize either one, but she did take a moment to observe that she was laying on something considerably softer than stone. Not to mention there was a wet cloth on her head… had someone found her and taken her home? A little embarrassed, she decided to listen in, hoping to find something out.

"…wasn't going to leave her there, Rei," a male voice was saying. He sounded a little defiant. "She was out cold, and besides, you saw her…"

"That's not the point," was the reply. "You _flew_ her to my apartment. Can you explain that little lack of forethought for me?" There was a long pause. "I thought so. Still, what's done is done… I suppose I had better get ready to explain…" There was another pause, and a door opened nearby.

Ruki waited patiently until the door shut before speaking. "So where am I?" she asked, rather bluntly.

"You're awake?" the second voice – Rei – said, a little surprised. A slender hand took the rag from Ruki's forehead, dropping it into a bucket nearby. Ruki found herself looking up into a pair of bright red eyes set into a pale, heart-shaped face. She fixed her attention on Rei's ears… they were long and pointed, almost like an elf's ears, and the tips were a frosty blue color.

Unfortunately, Rei seemed to notice, though she hardly seemed to mind much. "I suggest you come to terms with yourself," she said coolly, "before you consider my appearance strange." She stood up after a moment, walking over to the window to adjust the shades. Ruki heard clicking… was Rei wearing tap shoes? As the other girl returned, however, Ruki thought to look her way, and gasped in shock.

Rei's feet were bare, or else extremely convoluted costume pieces. They were blue, like her ears, and had a pebbly texture, like scales. Her feet split into three thick toes, each ending in a sharp white claw that clicked on the wooden floor as she walked. In spite of her surprise, Ruki noted that Rei lifted each foot well clear of the floor as she walked, preventing her claws from scraping.

"Wh-who are you?" she stammered, almost panicking. "_What_ are you?" She thought to get up and run, but Rei was back, keeping her pinned gently as she crouched beside her.

"Calm down," she said. "I will explain as well as I can. My name is Rei, Akumachi Rei. I am a friend. I will trust you enough that you will stay and hear me out if I let you go." She demonstrated this, releasing Ruki's shoulders and sitting up, keeping her hands in view. "Trust me?"

Ruki sat up, nodding warily.

"Good," Rei said, and stood up. She paced in front of Ruki for a few moments; the redhead watched, taking in Rei's odd choice of dress. While keeping her raven-black hair drawn back into a ponytail wasn't exactly strange, she had chosen grey pants that were very loose around her legs, and a rather casual white shirt. Oddly, she kept a wooden buckler on her right arm. Ruki resolved to ask about that if the chance came.

"I will start simply," Rei said, after awhile. "My friend found you unconscious in the park. He brought you here to me, before someone else could… take advantage. I had assumed you would be out longer, considering the lump on your skull."

Ruki winced, one hand coming up to feel the back of her head almost absently. On the way, her arm brushed against something, which she would have assumed was her hair, except it felt like her ear. Weird, had her hair tangled up around them somehow?

Rei glanced at her after a moment, curiously. "Can you tell me what you were doing there…?"

"Erm," Ruki thought about it for a few moments, before deciding to speak truthfully. "I thought I'd seen a friend, to be honest…"

"I see," Rei mused, and nodded. "This friend… was it a Digimon?" Ruki nodded dumbly. "Well, that tells me a good deal. Thank you… incidentally, would you happen to have a name to give me?"

Ruki held her gaze for a good while before extending her hand, deciding she could trust this strange creature. "Makino Ruki," she said.

Rei nodded, giving a tight smile as she shook Ruki's hand. "Very well, then, Ruki," she said. "Rest here for now, and we will see you home by sunset." She let go, starting to go back to the door. "Ah, by the way… in the interest of keeping peace with my neighbors, I request that you do not look at the mirror." She gave a short bow and shut the door behind her, leaving Ruki to herself.

"'Don't look in the mirror'?" Ruki wondered. "Funny, it doesn't _feel_ that bad…" She looked around and, spotting a covered object on the bureau, she got up to have a look.

-

Rei waited tensely on the other side of the door, and let out a sigh when she heard Ruki scream. She shook her head, throwing a tired glance at her friend.

"So, what?" he said, clueless. "It's my fault?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Despot Dragon Presents_

**DIGIMON**

**Union**

-

-

-

_Chapter Two_

"_Just what the hell is going on?"_

-

Ruki was still staring into the mirror when Rei came back in, shocked at what she saw. Large, triangular ears like those of a fox framed her face; right now, those were flattened back as the shock went through her. A bushy tail of the same color as her hair stood ramrod-straight behind her, betraying her nerves.

And of course, those huge ears were every bit as functional as they looked… the moment Ruki heard Rei's clawed feet clicking nearer, she whipped around, backing away from the other hybrid. Rei saw the fear, and honestly wished she knew what to tell Ruki now.

"_What the hell did you do to me?_" Ruki practically shrieked. She continued to back away as Rei came closer, despite the latter's attempts at looking harmless. "Tell me now, dammit!"

"Now listen, Makino_-san_," Rei started, holding up both hands as if in surrender. "I am only trying to help… I did not fully understand when it happened to me, either." She was rewarded with an almost lightning-quick punch that sent her sprawling, more out of surprise than anything else.

Then Ruki was gone out the window, while Rei stared after her. She hopped back up after a few moments, troubled.

"Hey, that went well, _sempai,_" her friend said, rather airily. He came to stand beside her, arms crossed over his bare chest. "Want me to go after her?" He grinned at her, fanning his dark-feathered wings.

"No, I-" Rei froze mid-sentence, a look not too far from horror on. "Souichiro-_kun_…"

"Call me 'Tori,' dammit," he said automatically, serious for once. "And I feel it, too." The two glanced at each other, wide red eyes meeting narrow gold ones. "Same plan?"

Rei nodded, starting toward the door. "Make sure she's safe. I'll try to locate this one on foot."

Tori nodded wordlessly, before jumping out the window to take flight.

-

Unaware of what she was doing, Ruki dashed and darted, leaping easily from one roof to the next. Eventually, she dropped from the rooftop onto a tree, and found herself in the park. Her path continued to the abandoned building where she had fainted.

Where Guilmon had been hidden. Where he had literally dug up a microgate to the Digital World. Where Ruki had, months later, met her partner Renamon once more and become… this. She slipped inside, almost wondering if she would find a connection between the three.

After a minute of standing in silence, she punched the wall, hissing at the pain in her fist. "I don't understand," she hissed. "Why, Renamon…?" In that instant, a shiver ran down her spine, and she turned around instinctively. _What's this feeling…?_

It was an odd feeling, somehow familiar… and very connected to the white mist that had begun to spread. She took a step back as the field closed over her, expecting to be blinded… but no, whatever force had bound Renamon to her had also given her the Digimon's eye protection. Cautiously, Ruki began to walk back outside of the structure, wondering alternately what sort of Digimon would emerge and what she would do when it did.

A hand fell on her shoulder, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. But this one kept a strong grip started pulling her aside. A soft voice hissed in her ear, "Quiet… Rei's going to get here very soon, we need to keep whatever this is distracted until then…"

Ruki instantly fell to distrust. "Rei?" she hissed back. "You're that friend of hers, then?"

"Yeah, kinda. Just trust me, okay? Rei might seem creepy, but I promise you we're going to help, Ruki."

"Yeah, and I'm the queen of-" She froze.

"Queen of…?" Tori prompted, and then caught on. "Crap. It's behind us, isn't it."

"Bingo," Ruki replied, and found herself quickly yanked to the side just as a clawed hand came down where she was standing. Tori hit the ground, but she kept going, tumbling right back to her feet. She caught a glimpse of black skin, and a single red-painted finger.

"Ah… I've found you, Ruki," the creature hissed. A pair of glowing red eyes opened, glaring down at her. "And without your precious _partner_… you've no choice but to take me, now…"

"IceDevimon?" she managed, rather dumbly. "But… didn't Guilmon…?"

"You'd be surprised what we can live through," it replied, reaching for her again. "But not without changes… I am simply Devimon now." Ruki ducked at the last instant, narrowly avoiding the fingers trying to close around her throat.

"Either way, you're a sorry excuse for a Digimon," she challenged. "What makes you think you're worthy of the Digimon Queen?"

"Simple," Devimon said, with an evil grin. "I am the one who will _defeat_ you."

"Oh, put a sock in it," Tori replied, and grabbed Devimon's arm. "You know she's spoken for, right?" He gave a wicked grin of his own, then announced, "_Spark Grasp._" Electricity ran down his arm in an instant, causing the Digimon to break away with a pained howl.

The birdman promptly interposed himself between Ruki and her risen stalker, small sparks running through his dark blue hair. "Think you can handle this, Ruki?" he asked, without looking back. "We'll need to keep him down at least until Rei gets here, or he'd prolly tear up the city for you…"

"But… how did you… just what the hell is going on?"

"…Fine, just stay out of the way!" Tori flapped his wings, bringing himself above a swipe of Devimon's claws, then spread them wide. "_Storm Feather!_" The dark feathers gave a thunderclap as he flapped them again, followed by a burst of lightning.

Ruki backed away immediately, hands over her ears. _Wait a second,_ she thought. _He's using… a Digimon's attacks? Then I should be able to…_ She ran forward, crossing her arms, to try acting on this thought. "_Diamond-_"

"_Sakabato!_" A sickening crack sounded in Ruki's ears, as a new arrival cut her off. Devimon howled again and backed away, his left arm hanging useless at his side. Rei now stood before him, a wooden sword held loosely in her right hand.

"About time you got here, _sempai_!" Tori said brightly. "You wanna finish this one?" He let loose another blast of lightning before darting away, as Rei returned her sword to a position at her waist, facing away.

"Gladly," she said simply, locking eyes with Devimon. "Come, then, and see what it means to trifle with one of mine…"

"You little _fool_," the creature hissed. "I will _destroy_ you, and-"

"Then _come._"

There was a pregnant pause, before Devimon drew back his remaining arm to attack. "You will regret challenging me, human!" He lunged forward…

"_Gyakudo!_"

…and it was over. Rei now stood behind him, giving her "blade" a flourish as she thrust it into her belt. "I have no regrets."

"Fool…" Devimon tried to turn, and crumbled, first his broken arm separating at the elbow, then his body at the waist, before finally disintegrating into data particles. He gave a chilling groan as he disappeared, one that had Ruki shivering again.

Then she met Rei's eyes, and froze again. "Now, Makino-_san_," Ruki said. "We will have words."

-

An hour later, Ruki was again sitting on the futon Rei had provided for her, back in the latter's apartment. She'd been treated to a rather stern lecture from the dragon-girl, and as a result now sat mulling over her new position. Her new choice was to either follow Rei's instructions… or find her own ways of dealing with her new abilities.

"Hey, Ruki," the other hybrid – Tori – said, as he tapped on the door. He poked his head inside. "Try not to get too down over Rei, okay? She's had to adjust, too…" He slipped inside, handing over a paper plate with a couple slices of cold pizza. "Sorry about the leftovers, we weren't expecting to have a guest."

"It's okay," Ruki replied, with a shake of her head. "I could use something to drink, though…"

Tori nodded, smiling broadly. "Soda okay?"

-

_**Ddragon's Database**_

_Akumachi Rei_

_Hybrid:_ Reptiledramon

_Abilities:_ Physical 150%, Magical 150%, Speed 150%

**Techniques**

_Sakabato_ – A powerful blow with a blunt object, usually her _bokuto_. Named for the the weapon carried by the titular character in _Rurouni Kenshin_, the _sakabatou_, or "reverse-blade sword."

_Gyakudo_ – A lightning-fast swing of the _bokuto_ from the left hip across the torso, accompanied by a step back. Named for an exercise in kendo.

**Notes**

Rei is 14 years old, trained in kendo for 6. Her abilities are balanced across the board, with a high propensity for physical attacks and a strong resistance to magic.

-

_Yagami Souichiro_

_Hybrid:_ Thunderbirdmon

_Abilities:_ Physical 175%, Magical 175%, Speed 100%

**Techniques**

_Spark Grasp_ – A powerful burst of electricity delivered by touching the opponent directly.

_Storm Feather_ – A magical technique involving thunder and lightning channeled through his wings.

**Notes**

He prefers the nickname "Tori." His abilities are skewed toward defense, with fairly strong magic.


	3. Chapter 3

_Despot Dragon Presents_

**DIGIMON**

**Union**

-

-

His world had become muddled. Existence had taken on a new meaning: pain. He had never before experienced pain like this, and quickly decided he never would again.

On the one hand, the pain he felt was purely physical, that of being rent and shunted into multiple existences at once. That pain was harsh, but it could be dealt with… unlike the _other._

That pain was searing, hateful, the pain of wounded pride and emotional upset. Nothing in either world seemed to help that one. Well… nothing except one thing…

"_Everything… will… burn…_"

-

_Chapter Three_

"_Something wrong?"_

-

"…Ow!" Ruki's rear hit the floor hard, propelled by a rather forceful shove from Rei. She jumped up almost immediately, both hands clapped over it. She could hear Tori snickering… that wasn't hard, given the size of her ears.

"You're distracted, Makino-_san_," Rei chided, and Ruki looked up to see the hard edge of her _bokuto_ halt in mid-swing, barely an inch from her forehead. She fell again, this time giving nothing but an odd whimper as she hit the floor. Rei's own long ears twitched, as she relaxed her own stance, lowering her wooden sword until the tip touched the floor.

And then she was in the air, jumping easily over a rather well-timed kick meant to sweep her legs from under her. Ruki grinned at this, one hand snapping upward to grab Rei's shirttail, and yanked her back down, tossing her to the floor just as forcefully. Tori clapped, without changing his enigmatic expression in the least.

"Ah… you learn quickly," Rei observed, rolling to her feet. "An airborne opponent cannot recover so easily." She brushed herself off, cocking her head as she noticed Ruki still seemed to be moving with a bit more care. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no," the fox-hybrid grunted. "I think I landed on my tail when you pushed me." Her own ears were flattened against her skull, betraying the pain she was in. Rei, however, just nodded.

"Then I believe that was enough for today," she said. "The bath is yours, Makino-_san_, we will discuss this later." She picked the wooden sword up, starting a different set of exercises.

"…As if there's something to discuss," Ruki muttered, as she slipped away.

-

_I still can't believe this is an apartment,_ she thought, as she passed back through the living room to the bathroom. _How can Rei afford this?_ It'd been three days, and she still marveled at it. Somehow Rei could afford to rent an entire floor for herself, it seemed.

Even the bathroom was huge… the "tub" took up half the room, and looked more like a pond than anything else, constantly filled and refilled as it was with hot water. Thankfully, there was a screen in place to obscure it from the door, for privacy. Ruki deposited her clothes on this side, and shut the screen behind her, before slipping into the water.

She gave a pained hiss as she sat down… her backside was still tender from Rei's push, apparently. She sighed. It was going to be a pain to dry off her tail, after this…

That wasn't the only thing bothering her, though. That Devimon seemed to remember her… even acted familiar to her. Could it be the IceDevimon that had once courted her as its tamer? But Guilmon had absorbed its data… right? It couldn't be the same…

"What _was_ that?" she wondered aloud, sinking further into the water.

-

"Doesn't look like she's skilled with physical attacks, like you are," Tori mused, watching the dragon-hybrid practice her swings. "Guess we really are all different, eh?"

"The only skill she has, it seems," Rei replied, "is that she is quick to adapt. That may yet change." She finished her set with a flourish not unlike the attack she'd used to finish the Devimon, and raised her sword almost irreverently to her shoulders. "I suppose you should start dinner, then…"

Tori nodded, rather promptly producing a pen and notepad. "What'll you have, boss?" he said brightly. Rei gave him a none-too-gentle tap with the sword. "Er… right…" His smile faltering slightly before he realized what she'd meant, he nodded again and started for the door. "About half an hour, Rei?"

Rei nodded, heading for the bath herself.

-

Ruki's ears twitched, shaking her out of her thoughts. She heard footsteps. Very unique footsteps. _Click-click-click._ Those were claws hitting the floor. She sat up, ignoring the new pain it brought her still-tender backside.

"Makino-_san_?" Rei sounded almost hesitant… that was a first, in Ruki's experience. The screen opened after a short while, revealing the dragon-hybrid there, clad only in a towel. Ruki blinked, a bit dazzled by the light glittering off those blue-white scales. "Ah, you're awake."

Ruki blinked again, looking up as Rei came closer, shutting the screen again behind her. The towel came off, allowing Ruki a look at the dragon-girl's body just before she, too, slid into the water… icy blue scales ran up her legs all the way to her hips, and Ruki noted a faint difference in color between Rei's chest and stomach and the rest of her body. Rei had also clipped her hair up at the back of her head, giving her a different look… it was somehow more disturbing, Ruki thought.

Then those eerie red eyes closed, and Rei seemed a _lot_ less aloof, just as vulnerable to girlish tendencies as Ruki was. "Are you certain you are all right?" she asked, leaning back.

"Ah… yeah, actually," Ruki gave a sheepish grin. "Started feeling better after I got in the water, actually…" She started to get up, and was just a little surprised to find that Rei didn't try to keep her in.

"I see," the dragon-girl mused. "Then it is probably nothing. Do tell us if it starts to worry you, won't you?"

"R-right…" Ruki hopped out of the water, scrambling just a bit to get dressed, and hurriedly put Rei behind her.

Behind her, Rei simply sighed, regarding the closed screen with half-lidded eyes. "Such a way you have with people, Akuma-_kun_…"

-

_That was… awkward,_ Ruki concluded, as she finished changing into the pajamas Rei had adapted for her. She gave another hiss as she tied the bottoms around her tail… it felt different somehow. Too constricting. Odd… they fit fine this morning…

"What the hell…?" She was on the verge of taking them off again to see what the problem was, when she heard a tapping at the window. She started… _Of course. I closed the window and drew the curtains, so he couldn't get in…_ A little exasperated, she walked over and flung open the curtains, ignoring the pain around her tail in favor of showing Tori that bit of exasperation.

"Ehehe… sorry," he said, as he climbed in. "Stepped out for a bit, didn't think I'd have a problem getting in when I got back… something wrong?" He tilted his head, having noticed that her tail moved a bit more stiffly than earlier.

"It's nothing," Ruki said, just as stiff as her tail. "Just a bit annoyed, alright?" She headed off into the living room, to dig through the refrigerator. "Hey, you're out of-"

"I called in for dinner tonight," Tori replied smoothly, as he sat down and turned the TV on. "Hope pizza's good…" Ruki just nodded, coming back with a bottle of water after a moment… and yelping again upon sitting down. Tori just watched, nonplussed.

"Aiya… that hurts, dammit…" Ruki rubbed her backside again, before deciding to just crouch on the floor instead. "What's on?"

"Something about a disappearance," Tori replied off-handedly. "Some kid named… Akiyama, I think they said." Ruki's head snapped up; Tori tilted his curiously. "Eh? You know him?"

It took a bit for her to regain her composure. "Y-yeah," she said, looking away so he couldn't see her blush. "Kinda."

Room service chose that moment to interrupt. "Oh, good," Tori mused, by way of relief. "Now Rei won't hit me when she gets out of the bath…"

-

That night, Ruki woke in a cold sweat, sitting bolt upright. Had she been normal – that is to say, _not_ currently sporting a _real_ set of fox ears and tail – she might have attributed it to the pizza. But this was different… she felt something. Something _familiar_… and yet, at the same time, _not._

Like her.

Ignoring the pain in her tail, she got up, crawling toward where Rei lay. Without much forethought, she shook the dragon-girl's shoulder, hissing urgently. "Rei… Rei, wake up…!"

It was a moment before Rei fought her off, propping herself up on one elbow. Those red eyes seemed to glow in the faint light that came so far before dawn. What Rei saw, a little blurry at first, was the face of instinct… Ruki's ears were flush against her skull, something she'd learned to recognize as panic.

"What is it, Makino-_san_?" Creepy as Rei was, even Ruki was forced to admit that most of her friends wouldn't have sounded so conscientious upon being shaken awake. Rei didn't even pause to correct her hair or the white tank-top she'd put on before bed, instead focusing entirely on Ruki as soon as she'd roused. Which, Ruki had to admit, brought the creepiness back in full.

"I felt something," the fox-girl hissed back. "Something _big._ Like the Devimon, but… not." She glanced rather anxiously toward the window. "Feels like it's getting closer, too."

Rei nodded and got to her feet, heading over to get a look. Having lent her pajamas to Ruki, she wore only a tank top and shorts… the scales on her legs glittered coldly in the grey light. "There doesn't seem to be anything out of the-"

She was cut off by a rather loud explosion.

Ruki put on a smug look, her ears lifting a bit now that someone else was in her position. "Told you there was something there."


End file.
